Episode 124

Transformation Is Not A One And Done | Episode 124

Empowering Transformational Leaders: Celebrating and Supporting Positively Powerful Women

In this inspiring episode of 'Seasoned Women, Serious Business,' host Isabel Alexander is joined by Jackie Wszalek and Dr. Joel P. Martin. They discuss the impactful journey of the Positively Powerful Women Education Summit and Awards, celebrating women who make significant contributions to their communities. Emphasizing the importance of smashing stereotypes and the transformative power of collective wisdom, the conversation explores personal growth, overcoming limiting beliefs, and building supportive networks. 


They share personal anecdotes, reflecting on Dr. Joel's book 'Positively Powerful Women's Way,' and outline plans for future collaborations, including a book signing and retirement party. The episode concludes with gratitude, mutual admiration, and a motivational call for listeners to thrive and live their legacy. Listeners are encouraged to subscribe, share, and engage with the show's content.


00:00 Welcome to Seasoned Women, Serious Business

01:41 Meet Our Guests: Jackie Wszalek and Dr. Joel P. Martin

02:36 The Positively Powerful Women Education Summit

05:02 The Journey of Transformational Leadership

07:59 Celebrating Women and Their Achievements

11:17 Global Reach and Personal Growth

16:42 Transformation and Mindset

19:18 Smashing Stereotypes: Personal Stories

20:12 Introducing 'The Positively Powerful Women's Way'

21:27 The Journey of Writing and Publishing

21:56 Empowerment Through Self-Belief

24:08 Creating a Supportive Network

26:31 Transformation is a Continuous Journey

29:50 Final Thoughts and Future Plans

31:55 Conclusion and Call to Action

Biography

Dr. Joel (JP) Martin, President of Triad West Inc. and Founder of the Positively Powerful Education Summit and Woman Awards, is an author, training designer, facilitator, and executive coach with over 30 years of experience as a Transformational Leadership and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion specialist. 

Dr. Martin's commitment to developing successful leaders, aligned teams, and empowered women executives has led her to engagements before Fortune 500 corporations, educational institutions, and business owners in 13 countries and across the US.

She has earned a Ph.D. in Communications and a Master's in Psychology, admission as a Wharton Fellow of Wharton Business School, and membership on the Forbes Coaching Council. She is a member of the African American Women's Giving and Empowerment Circle and launched the 501c3 Positively Powerful Business and Community Development Organization (PPBCD) in January 2024.

Dr. Martin, a recognized figure in her field, has appeared on the Today Show, ABC's Sonoran Living, the NY Times, Black Enterprise, Essence (cover and feature), and Fortune. Previously, she owned and operated a full-service advertising agency specializing in multicultural communications.

A native New Yorker, who loves the “work” that she does and refuses to even consider retiring, now lives in Scottsdale, AZ, with her husband, Bob, a fine artist and oil painter from the Bronx. They are the proud parents of their daughter Cybel Martin, one of the few women who are members of the American Society of Cinematographers (ASC).

City: Scottsdale, AZ 85262

Web address: https://positivelypowerful.com/Insights/

Email address: jpmartin@triadwest.com

Instagram Handle: @pospowjp

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drjpmartin/


Crossroads Clarity Solution

Transcript
Isabel Alexander:

Everybody, buckle up, because this is guaranteed to

Isabel Alexander:

be an exhilarating ride here on Seasoned Women, Serious Business.

Isabel Alexander:

I know I am wise enough to want more.

Isabel Alexander:

I have in studio with me, one wise witch, and her name is Jackie Wszalek and we

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have the pleasure of virtually inviting

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Dr.

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Joel P.

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Martin

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into our living room today.

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Woo!

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So may I say, another wise and wonderful witch here.

Isabel Alexander:

I

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Dr. Joel P Martin: feel it today, yes.

Isabel Alexander:

Yeah, now when I say witch, you know what that means, right?

Isabel Alexander:

It's something like wonderful, intelligent, terrific.

Isabel Alexander:

How about Woman in Total Control of H erself?

Isabel Alexander:

Oh, all right.

Isabel Alexander:

That's a witch.

Isabel Alexander:

Jackie.

Isabel Alexander:

Tell me about this amazing woman.

Jackie Wszalek:

I've known Joel for quite a few years,

Jackie Wszalek:

probably 10 or 15, I'm guessing.

Jackie Wszalek:

We are sisters from another mother, as we talk about often.

Jackie Wszalek:

She's dear to my heart and she puts on the most fabulous event every

Jackie Wszalek:

year called Positively Powerful Women Education Summit and Awards.

Jackie Wszalek:

The beauty of it, and I'll let you talk about it, Joelle, is that it

Jackie Wszalek:

recognizes women in our community who are doing amazing things.

Jackie Wszalek:

Joelle comes from it with a heart of service and a heart of recognizing

Jackie Wszalek:

very humble women who may not always get the recognition they deserve

Jackie Wszalek:

for what we put into the community.

Jackie Wszalek:

With that said, feel free.

Jackie Wszalek:

Thank you,

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Jackie.

Jackie Wszalek:

You nailed it.

Jackie Wszalek:

Yeah, this is my sister from another mother and father.

Isabel Alexander:

Can I be adopted by you two?

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Of course.

Isabel Alexander:

Yeah.

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Dr. Joel P Martin: As with any friend of Jackie's, a friend

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of mine, and vice versa,

Jackie Wszalek:

I'm sure.

Jackie Wszalek:

Absolutely.

Jackie Wszalek:

I've met so many cool women on Friday.

Jackie Wszalek:

I just, I'm, I was bubbling with the wonderful.

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Every year, it seems like it gets more intense and more

Jackie Wszalek:

exciting and elevating, and Access.

Jackie Wszalek:

Keyword, Access.

Isabel Alexander:

I know the event for 24, included, and I had the privilege

Isabel Alexander:

of participating in half of the day, but, I will include in the show notes.

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your contact information, and all about the history, the legacy of

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Positively Powerful, because I would love to see more of that, just a

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wave of it sweeping across the world.

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Jackie, I think it was just so emotional, so powerful, so uplifting, and there were

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moments of Sadness that what many of these women had gone through to accomplish what

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they have in their lifetime, but then the joy overcame again because they're

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paying it forward by doing what, my, my life mantra is lift as you climb.

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And that was definitely evident in your room Friday because all those women were

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there generously lifting each other.

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In your words, like how did you begin this and what is the

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journey that it's taking you on?

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: It began when Bob and I, Bob's my husband, we moved to Arizona,

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and I started meeting women and speaking before them, like banks and women's

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organizations, and I was invited to be a speaker for judges and attorneys, and as

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I'm speaking, and I'm thinking to myself, these women seem very tired, very burnt.

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And I tend to be fairly intuitive.

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So what I asked them is how many of you give to yourself

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the way you give to others?

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From my heart, I really want to know, because, at that time when I moved here,

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I'd been doing transformational leadership development training around the world.

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And as a training designer and one who works with a lot of different

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kinds of folks I give myself permission just to trust my gut.

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So I ask that question and only one woman in that body of women who deal

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with issues on our indigenous people's lands, who deal with youth, who deal

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with social justice, and who have taken a stand for elements of our society,

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of our world to make them better.

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We women, we take it all, those tolls on ourselves sometimes.

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And I thought to myself as a training designer, as a facilitator, I have

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got to do something about this.

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There was also a side of me that was thinking whispering in my ear was my

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mother and my godmother, Aunt Ida, who were my first positively powerful women.

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They brought me up.

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I had the first event in 2008., And it was with the first part of it, very similar

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to how it is now, Jackie, the first part of it was on transformational leadership.

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Then there were the awards, and my philosophy is, I want women to experience

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the connectedness, the access the joy, and the sharing of the knowledge experts.

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That's what they are for me, and philosophically, again, I

Isabel Alexander:

believe every human being is a positively powerful person.

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And I repeat this every time we do a session, every time we have an event, all

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right, and that frees up me, it frees them up, even though they don't realize that's

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what's going on, to be with them in such a way that I honor them, that I care about

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what happens to them, that their visions and purpose and missions matter to me.

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That's a little bit about the history.

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I'd started out with women attorneys, judges social workers, in that line

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who care about others tremendously.

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I wanted them to feel like queen for a day.

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I wanted them to feel happy.

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Even in the early days, we used to get these little crazy hats.

Isabel Alexander:

Remember those, Jackie, the crowns?

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Maybe I should do that again.

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I think I will.

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I think I will.

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I will never forget, this is a little sidebar of joy.

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Speaking of joy, the Rev.

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Sherilyn Curry Hodge is one of our honorees, and I think she was 2012 or

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14, nevertheless I never will forget.

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She walked around there, and she had her crown on her head, And it was

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one of the ones with a swirly thing on it; here we have a woman who is

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now an AME church presiding elder over so many states, and it's just,

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that's the beauty of the honorees.

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I want women, and men who happen to be there with us to have a sense

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of knowledge, to get information and this year I thought, we were

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over the top with information.

Isabel Alexander:

I know, right?

Isabel Alexander:

Yeah.

Isabel Alexander:

Oh my gosh.

Isabel Alexander:

Yeah.

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I was so really excited brand experts telling us what it is like to be

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working with the CEO of a multi-billion dollar global company and giving women

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those kinds of tips, over 20 minutes.

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Bam!

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It was like that.

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And that's what I believe in.

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I think there is so much knowledge available, so much knowledge available

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that rests within ourselves that deserves and needs to be shared.

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And I'm on a mission to make it happen.

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My mission is to acknowledge the accomplishments of women in ways that

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empower all people, and that's so key to me because, it's not gender specific,

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but I say that I honor women first as the landing place for all of us who,

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when we are born, but in any event, to acknowledge the accomplishments of

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women in ways that empower all people to live their dreams and will change

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lives and businesses for the better.

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The knowledge experts are part of that.

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I have a grounding every time we get ready to go, meaning to start an event.

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That comes out of my training and development as a transformational

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leadership development.

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We always ground our teams to make sure that we're aligned.

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Once we're aligned, when that stuff hits the fan, as it will in those kind

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of intense trainings, we, I need to know that my people leave my trainings

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whole, complete, full of themselves, meaning joyful feeling cared about.

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And when it doesn't happen I hang back, even when it's working

Isabel Alexander:

with the city of Chandler on diversity, equity, and inclusion.

Isabel Alexander:

So that's that's how it started.

Isabel Alexander:

That's the context of it, and it's 15 years old.

Isabel Alexander:

So I hope I have answered your question.

Isabel Alexander:

I love and it comes as no surprise.

Isabel Alexander:

Jackie and I were just talking a few minutes ago about the threads

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of wisdom throughout our lives and the communities that we gather and

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to your point we've all learned through experience, career, education,

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hardships throughout our life, but to bring that all together and take those

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threads and start to weave a tapestry.

Isabel Alexander:

That's what I felt was happening in the room when I witnessed your

Isabel Alexander:

event this week because Thank you.

Isabel Alexander:

It was like everybody was wrapped in this beautiful, supportive blanket.

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It was so awesome.

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: What is your home?

Isabel Alexander:

Where are you from

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isabel?

Isabel Alexander:

I am born in Canada, spent my adult life in Canada, and then moved to

Isabel Alexander:

Arizona much, much later in life.

Isabel Alexander:

But I consider myself more of a citizen of the world because I love the diversity,

Isabel Alexander:

the education that I get, how enriched my whole life is by meeting other people

Isabel Alexander:

and learning from their perspectives.

Jackie Wszalek:

She has a daughter in Dubai, so she was there for a while.

Jackie Wszalek:

Joelle has done things in China, in Russia.

Jackie Wszalek:

She has done trainings all over the world.

Jackie Wszalek:

So her reach is extremely large.

Jackie Wszalek:

And

Jackie Wszalek:

okay.

Jackie Wszalek:

Now I haven't been to Dubai yet.

Isabel Alexander:

Ooh, I think we need to take positively powerful to Dubai.

Isabel Alexander:

We're talking!

Isabel Alexander:

I've had two sessions in Malaysia.

Isabel Alexander:

One of the women from the Island Liaison family has said, we're going to Guam.

Isabel Alexander:

I'm ready to go.

Isabel Alexander:

I have a bag that's got all my stuff in it, just, boop!

Isabel Alexander:

But in any event, I've been to 13 nations I love my work, and I think

Isabel Alexander:

that gift that I have to surrender to that, is a gift that I have, a

Isabel Alexander:

curiosity and a love for people.

Isabel Alexander:

This is so perfect because the wisdom part, it's a

Isabel Alexander:

responsibility to lift as we climb.

Isabel Alexander:

Becoming the best version of ourselves means that we can increase the

Isabel Alexander:

influence and the impact that we have for good for others, right?

Isabel Alexander:

So why wouldn't you want to spread that to every country in the world?

Isabel Alexander:

Yeah.

Isabel Alexander:

Love it.

Isabel Alexander:

Love it.

Isabel Alexander:

Love it.

Jackie Wszalek:

And we have a baby among us.

Jackie Wszalek:

Isabel headed back to Canada to celebrate her 70th birthday.

Jackie Wszalek:

Oh,

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: wonderful.

Jackie Wszalek:

Happy early birthday, you youngster.

Jackie Wszalek:

That's what I said.

Isabel Alexander:

I do, I love this that I am now, I feel like I've got all

Isabel Alexander:

these big sisters and what incredible role models for me going into this new

Isabel Alexander:

decade and now thinking, wow, not only are we not done, we are picking up speed.

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Yeah, we are.

Isabel Alexander:

We are.

Isabel Alexander:

Don't you think though, it's always been that way, like Jackie cracked me up that,

Isabel Alexander:

like you have done so much in your life.

Isabel Alexander:

And I'm going to tell you, our friend over here, Isabel, she's

Isabel Alexander:

very humble and very modest.

Isabel Alexander:

And I have to compliment her.

Isabel Alexander:

Ask her.

Isabel Alexander:

Okay, so Jackie, tell me about you,

Isabel Alexander:

And she's what a, the president of this, the president of that, she started women

Isabel Alexander:

owned businesses and she is awesome.

Isabel Alexander:

That's why she's a positively powerful woman too.

Jackie Wszalek:

So I was able to receive the award one year

Jackie Wszalek:

and it was just such an honor.

Jackie Wszalek:

But again, it's that honoring people who don't necessarily show up to

Jackie Wszalek:

say, I did this, I did that, right?

Jackie Wszalek:

No, they don't.

Jackie Wszalek:

That's the reason any of us do the work we do.

Jackie Wszalek:

We do work because we feel it's a responsibility.

Jackie Wszalek:

It is our pleasure to do.

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Yeah, I agree.

Jackie Wszalek:

I think most of the women feel this way.

Jackie Wszalek:

To your point, though, they will say I don't do this because I want an award.

Jackie Wszalek:

And I'd say to them, I understand, but I am asking that you receive this awards

Jackie Wszalek:

because there's going to be somebody in the audience who will identify with you.

Jackie Wszalek:

Exactly right.

Jackie Wszalek:

You are channeling for women.

Jackie Wszalek:

And then, what touches them.

Jackie Wszalek:

They speak from their heart with the receiving of it and what it means to

Jackie Wszalek:

them and the people that came for them.

Jackie Wszalek:

And then what we get to is.

Jackie Wszalek:

Basically we're all living life's journey the best we can and doing the best we can.

Jackie Wszalek:

And when we're not doing the best we can, that's when I say the positively

Jackie Wszalek:

powerful person has gotten amnesia.

Jackie Wszalek:

Absolutely.

Jackie Wszalek:

They need a little wake up call, a little tough love.

Jackie Wszalek:

Eloquently in your keynote for the day of: we start as these little babies

Jackie Wszalek:

and then everything gets piled on us and then we take the second half

Jackie Wszalek:

of our life to get rid of all of the Garbage that's been dumped into us.

Jackie Wszalek:

Yeah, we do.

Jackie Wszalek:

So creating that step one that we do, Jackie of the Education Summit.

Jackie Wszalek:

That's one step after what typically happens when people get to

Jackie Wszalek:

learn what transformation means.

Jackie Wszalek:

Not the coined phrase of transformation now, but what it means exactly.

Jackie Wszalek:

Jackie, when I say the word transformation, I see you go like this.

Jackie Wszalek:

Could you just say your words on it?

Jackie Wszalek:

What do you think of transformation being?

Jackie Wszalek:

Transformation for me is to stop doing and to be.

Jackie Wszalek:

So when we are being, and I think that was reiterated a couple times, actually I

Jackie Wszalek:

talk about often my yoga journey being one of muscling my way through yoga for the

Jackie Wszalek:

first 10 years, where I do any posture.

Jackie Wszalek:

You tell me I can name it.

Jackie Wszalek:

But it's a doing and you take it into your heart and you actually

Jackie Wszalek:

show up in the world in another way.

Jackie Wszalek:

That's transformation.

Jackie Wszalek:

Absolutely.

Jackie Wszalek:

Yeah.

Jackie Wszalek:

You

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: got it.

Jackie Wszalek:

Rid of your soul from the tips of your toes to your hair.

Jackie Wszalek:

There's no other way to be.

Jackie Wszalek:

That to me gives me chills and I live it 75 percent of my life, right?

Jackie Wszalek:

That's pretty good.

Jackie Wszalek:

I want to show up as that transformed person, that one who can be in

Jackie Wszalek:

the world for you and me, right?

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Yeah, absolutely.

Jackie Wszalek:

Because we have so many folks that are involved in STEM and

Jackie Wszalek:

technology, I say transformation is you re engineering your mind.

Jackie Wszalek:

Your mindset, rather.

Jackie Wszalek:

Your mindset, not your mind.

Jackie Wszalek:

Your mind is what you got, but it's your mindset.

Jackie Wszalek:

Yeah.

Jackie Wszalek:

All of us grow up in a thing also, what I at least grew up in a

Jackie Wszalek:

family where it is good to be right, man.

Jackie Wszalek:

It's just, my favorite words are not, I love you.

Jackie Wszalek:

You were right.

Jackie Wszalek:

Those are my three.

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Oh, my.

Jackie Wszalek:

Okay, now we're gonna go there, huh?

Jackie Wszalek:

My family was, you will learn, and you are wrong.

Jackie Wszalek:

Meaning not wrong, but good girls keep their legs together.

Jackie Wszalek:

Don't get pregnant.

Jackie Wszalek:

Good

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: girls are I don't want to sign sound too pejorative, but

Jackie Wszalek:

there were a lot of stereotypes that I grew up in as a girl to womanhood.

Jackie Wszalek:

And I don't think it is just me or my family or you or your family.

Jackie Wszalek:

It's societal things.

Jackie Wszalek:

That's why my book has smashing stereotypes.

Jackie Wszalek:

And those stereotypes are societal.

Jackie Wszalek:

They're everywhere, right?

Jackie Wszalek:

I grew up with that.

Jackie Wszalek:

One of my friend's parents, every time we left her house, her dad would

Jackie Wszalek:

say, don't come home with a package.

Jackie Wszalek:

I got that.

Jackie Wszalek:

A teenager.

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Oh

Jackie Wszalek:

shoot.

Jackie Wszalek:

. Dr. Joel P Martin: No package

Jackie Wszalek:

here.

Jackie Wszalek:

No here.

Jackie Wszalek:

Promise you no deliveries.

Jackie Wszalek:

But we all have those stories and those things.

Jackie Wszalek:

And you told the story about the teacher, right?

Jackie Wszalek:

My sister had a teacher who told her she couldn't do math.

Jackie Wszalek:

She just was not created to do math.

Jackie Wszalek:

It took her till she was 40 years old.

Jackie Wszalek:

She took a math class at community college so that she could overcome that.

Jackie Wszalek:

That's crazy.

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Yeah, I hear those kinds of stories

Jackie Wszalek:

all, quite a bit when I speak.

Isabel Alexander:

Jackie mentioned a book.

Isabel Alexander:

Would you tell us more about that and repeat the title?

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: It's called The Positively Powerful Women's Way.

Smashing Stereotypes:

Creating a Vision and Soaring to Success.

Smashing Stereotypes:

Those words are really what resonate for me when I think about every woman, all

Smashing Stereotypes:

70 plus to 80 of the previous honorees, each one in their own way has needed to

Smashing Stereotypes:

smash a stereotype; like women should not own big print major printing companies.

Smashing Stereotypes:

And you do, you get those silly stereotypes and I couldn't sing

Smashing Stereotypes:

because someone told me I can't.

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Mouth the word darling.

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We word , so you know you have to smash all of that.

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Yeah, smash that thinking.

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And the stereotypes could be out there, but when we start living the stereotypes,

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it's the one that does us harm.

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So that's the name of my book and it's the Positively Powerful Women's Way.

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One of the pages, it's going to be the back cover of it, is the

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listing of every woman who has won a Positively Powerful Woman Award.

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The forward is written by Fatima Helene.

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Oh, how sweet.

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It's gone through about five years of iteration.

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So I'm finally at the point where I'm saying, okay, I get it.

Smashing Stereotypes:

I get it.

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I know what I need to have in here.

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So many rewrites, but I think that's the journey.

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It's not quite as, as easy as my first book: how to be

Smashing Stereotypes:

a positively powerful person.

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When is your book going to be available for purchase?

Smashing Stereotypes:

Three weeks.

Smashing Stereotypes:

I'm going to consider that a birthday present.

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I, cause I'm going to buy that for myself.

Smashing Stereotypes:

Thank you.

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Excellent.

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I loved the smashing stereotypes.

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Loved that.

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And where my head went to was, I guess it starts with me first.

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If I, and I have, bought into those stereotypes myself, and I've

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convinced myself that must be correct.

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And so nothing will change until I personally smash my own

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beliefs around those, right?

Smashing Stereotypes:

You got it.

Smashing Stereotypes:

Yeah, that was also included in my keynote, because I said, now, how was

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it possible that I was told that I couldn't write, that I didn't write

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this poem, that somebody else wrote it.

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So then I have to lay it out.

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How could that be true if I have, and I included all of my education?

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Something happened in that pathway and the pathway was, to your point,

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Isabel, I smashed that stereotype for myself that I was not dumb.

Smashing Stereotypes:

I'll always be black, but, that's a gift.

Smashing Stereotypes:

That's a gift.

Smashing Stereotypes:

There were some stereotypes that went around with that school teacher too

Smashing Stereotypes:

and I lived and dealt with and smashed, but yeah, it starts with us first.

Isabel Alexander:

So is that where the powerful part comes in the brand?

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Powerful, more from source, more from being in ownership of.

Isabel Alexander:

Yeah.

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Positively powerful.

Isabel Alexander:

If I were just to say we are powerful women it's not the same sense that I

Isabel Alexander:

have when I say positively powerful.

Isabel Alexander:

We're here to make the world a better place.

Isabel Alexander:

We're here to leave a legacy.

Isabel Alexander:

We're here to contribute, which is the positive side of it.

Isabel Alexander:

Do you know what I mean?

Isabel Alexander:

We got some powerful people out here.

Isabel Alexander:

I don't want them in my space.

Isabel Alexander:

I don't want them to wear my brand, per se, until after I work with them.

Isabel Alexander:

They'll be getting a little serving of transformation.

Isabel Alexander:

Oh, you bet.

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: And it'll be with love.

Isabel Alexander:

And the thing about the work that I do, there's always a group of people who

Isabel Alexander:

have taken on the mantle of coaches.

Isabel Alexander:

So that let's be real.

Isabel Alexander:

A lot of the things that have happened to me in my life, or to you, and to

Isabel Alexander:

you, I can't speak for your childhood, but for many of us, like when I was

Isabel Alexander:

working with Youth At Risk for one of the foundations, or when I worked with

Isabel Alexander:

the kids from Cabrini Green in Chicago to go to work in Magic Johnson Studio.

Isabel Alexander:

You've got to be aware that these young folks, these teenagers and the grown folks

Isabel Alexander:

that are still living with that, go home to a place where they may not feel safe.

Isabel Alexander:

And it's very easy when you don't feel safe and somebody say, this

Isabel Alexander:

is how you can be in your life.

Isabel Alexander:

And yeah, you may feel safe to be it in that room, but when you leave, you

Isabel Alexander:

need you get a network of support.

Isabel Alexander:

That's the kind of work that I believe in.

Isabel Alexander:

I want people to have a network of support.

Isabel Alexander:

The adults, executives, I am their network of support.

Isabel Alexander:

The young folks that have a learning circle, they may have a buddy,

Isabel Alexander:

and that buddy has a commitment.

Isabel Alexander:

They have a commitment to each other.

Isabel Alexander:

So there's some really juicy bits in the transformational programs.

Jackie Wszalek:

None of us do it alone.

Jackie Wszalek:

And I think at your event, it's also so beautiful to see each and

Jackie Wszalek:

every speaker, I feel like I'm safe.

Jackie Wszalek:

I can say this.

Jackie Wszalek:

I've never said this before.

Jackie Wszalek:

It's whoa, right?

Jackie Wszalek:

Yeah, we're in a group of 200.

Jackie Wszalek:

I love

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: it.

Jackie Wszalek:

I love it.

Jackie Wszalek:

, Jackie, you're part of what has the safe environment be present.

Jackie Wszalek:

You're a very important part.

Jackie Wszalek:

Thank you.

Jackie Wszalek:

I remember when I was coming up as a transformational trainer rookie.

Jackie Wszalek:

I was working with a woman who was a Caucasian woman.

Jackie Wszalek:

We called ourselves Salt and Pepper.

Jackie Wszalek:

I was Salt, she was Pepper.

Jackie Wszalek:

I love it.

Jackie Wszalek:

I love the people I meet in your circle.

Jackie Wszalek:

Oh my gosh.

Jackie Wszalek:

Yeah, that's a good thing.

Jackie Wszalek:

Yeah.

Isabel Alexander:

I have to say that it couldn't be more perfect for

Isabel Alexander:

seasoned women to be talking about

Jackie Wszalek:

Salt, and pepper.

Jackie Wszalek:

That's good.

Isabel Alexander:

I have a question for you, Joelle.

Isabel Alexander:

Sure.

Isabel Alexander:

Is transformation a one and done?

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Never.

Isabel Alexander:

No, the expression is, and I didn't originate it, but I

Isabel Alexander:

believe that transformation is a journey, not a destination.

Isabel Alexander:

You need to walk your talk and find a way to continue walking your talk.

Isabel Alexander:

This is my way, I learn with everything that I'm involved in.

Isabel Alexander:

It can't be a one and done because to say it's a one and done trivializes the work

Isabel Alexander:

and the leadership and the reconstituting of mindsets that goes into it.

Isabel Alexander:

And for anyone who wants to be a transformational

Isabel Alexander:

leadership developer, a trainer.

Isabel Alexander:

a coach as soon as they tell me that's their intention, my

Isabel Alexander:

relationship with them shifts.

Isabel Alexander:

If you want to go up in front of people and say you're a transformation,

Isabel Alexander:

I want to do my part in supporting you in your dream and your goal.

Isabel Alexander:

Never done.

Isabel Alexander:

I I wanted to ask you that specifically, although I

Isabel Alexander:

was pretty sure I knew what your answer was going to be, because

Isabel Alexander:

Jackie and I were just talking.

Isabel Alexander:

We just recorded a couple of episodes for the SOFA SERIES our

Isabel Alexander:

conversation about what it's like to transform through ages and stages

Jackie Wszalek:

as

Isabel Alexander:

a woman and as a business owner.

Isabel Alexander:

And that was one of the parts that of course comes up when we talk about that.

Isabel Alexander:

Like how we didn't know yesterday we were going to be this great today, right?

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: Yeah.

Isabel Alexander:

And it's about finding what brings you joy, what makes you happy.

Isabel Alexander:

And that is positively powerful, making you happy.

Isabel Alexander:

And that means it, it goes outwards to the world, if you will.

Isabel Alexander:

And whether it's having a great family life, that can be transformational.

Isabel Alexander:

It's not like you wake up and you say, Oh, I don't love my family anymore.

Isabel Alexander:

No, you got to keep going or marriage or whatever.

Isabel Alexander:

or training internationally.

Isabel Alexander:

It requires growth and continuing.

Isabel Alexander:

There's a lot of women that are going through life stages, like my, one of

Isabel Alexander:

my friends Diana Gregory, for example.

Isabel Alexander:

She and I had some coaching sessions when she moved from

Isabel Alexander:

Anheuser Busch and she moved here.

Isabel Alexander:

She's a phenomenon.

Isabel Alexander:

And my Aunt Ida, my godmother, She told me something.

Isabel Alexander:

She was in a retirement community, still sharp, couldn't move so well,

Isabel Alexander:

but she was a hundred years old.

Isabel Alexander:

I said tell me, what is it that keeps you going?

Isabel Alexander:

How have you lived to be a hundred?

Isabel Alexander:

And she said, I have a good sense of humor and I'm always looking

Isabel Alexander:

forward to going somewhere.

Isabel Alexander:

So she was the first woman in her age when that went to China.

Isabel Alexander:

She went to China.

Isabel Alexander:

She went to Africa.

Isabel Alexander:

She married late in life.

Isabel Alexander:

She was having it all, so yeah it's ongoing.

Isabel Alexander:

It is ongoing.

Isabel Alexander:

Yeah.

Isabel Alexander:

It's a wonderful attitude perspective instead of, and we talked about this

Isabel Alexander:

earlier about expecting to retire and stop instead of shifting and shattering that

Isabel Alexander:

expectation to, my gosh, it's just opening up opportunities for more and different.

Isabel Alexander:

. . I wanna thank you so much.

Isabel Alexander:

I was, aside from the fact that you were already pre-qualified by Jackie, and

Isabel Alexander:

because what this woman believes in I, it, that's a credit to me, but I'm also,

Isabel Alexander:

I felt magnetized to you because of the positivity theme and the powerful theme.

Isabel Alexander:

And I, I recently wrote an article on LinkedIn about the StrengthsFinder

Isabel Alexander:

and my number one strength, according to Gallup, is positivity.

Isabel Alexander:

So girl I'm just,

Isabel Alexander:

That's exciting.

Isabel Alexander:

Yeah, my new friend.

Isabel Alexander:

So I would love to invite you to come back and join us after it's published.

Isabel Alexander:

I have a chance to read it and then let's talk about that if

Isabel Alexander:

you don't mind with the world.

Isabel Alexander:

I would love that.

Isabel Alexander:

Thank you so much.

Isabel Alexander:

You had mentioned that you would like my contact info.

Isabel Alexander:

Do you have all of that?

Isabel Alexander:

I do, and everything is going to be in the show notes because we're on all the

Isabel Alexander:

podcast channels, and also this is going to be on YouTube in spite of the strange

Isabel Alexander:

lighting, and it'd be in the description so that everyone can follow you and reach

Isabel Alexander:

out and as soon as you have the link for the book, we'll put that there as well.

Isabel Alexander:

So it's really easy peasy

Isabel Alexander:

For

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: people.

Isabel Alexander:

Excellent.

Isabel Alexander:

Thank you so much for this Jackie.

Isabel Alexander:

Thank you so much for recommending me.

Isabel Alexander:

Welcome.

Isabel Alexander:

Yeah.

Isabel Alexander:

Yeah.

Isabel Alexander:

You

Isabel Alexander:

Dr. Joel P Martin: know what?

Isabel Alexander:

I think we should, maybe we could get together

Isabel Alexander:

and talk about a book signing.

Jackie Wszalek:

Yeah, and my new Hokey Pokey Retirement Party.

Jackie Wszalek:

Yes, that was

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: so wonderful.

Jackie Wszalek:

All right, whatever y'all, whatever you want to do, let's get it on

Jackie Wszalek:

the calendar and have it happen.

Jackie Wszalek:

We will do that.

Jackie Wszalek:

Thank you.

Jackie Wszalek:

Put your whole self in.

Jackie Wszalek:

Yep, you got it, my friend.

Jackie Wszalek:

I love you.

Jackie Wszalek:

Thank you, Joel.

Jackie Wszalek:

Love you,

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: too.

Jackie Wszalek:

for

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: your time.

Jackie Wszalek:

All right,

Jackie Wszalek:

Dr. Joel P Martin: bye.

Jackie Wszalek:

Bye.

Jackie Wszalek:

Bye.

About the Podcast

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Seasoned Women Serious Business
Wise Enough to Want More

About your host

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Isabel Alexander

Dynamic, self-made entrepreneur who overcame obstacles with an unrelenting positive nature, a farm girl work ethic and a conscious choice to thrive rather than survive, Isabel Alexander Banerjee cultivated an award winning, $10 million+ global chemical wholesale business and grew it from dining room table to international boardrooms.

Isabel’s strengths include the ability to initiate & nurture strategic relationships, a love of lifelong learning and talents for helping others maximize their potential. An inspiring speaker within both industry and community, she is a driving force behind those with the courage to follow her example of thriving against the odds.

With 50+ years of business experience across diverse industries, Isabel is respected as an advisor, a coach, a mentor and a role model. She believes in sharing collective wisdom and empowering others to economic independence.

Isabel Alexander
Your Next Business Strategist and Transformation Catalyst